THE COMINTERN AND ANTI-IMPERIALISM, NATIONALITY AND RACE THE COMINTERN AND THE COMMUNIST PARTIES OF SOUTH AFRICA, CANADA, AND AUSTRALIA ON QUESTIONS OF IMPERIALISM, NATIONALITY AND RACE, 1919-1943 By OLEKSA DRACHEWYCH, B.A., M.A. A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University © Copyright by Oleksa Drachewych, July 2017 McMaster University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (2017) Hamilton, Ontario (History) TITLE: The Comintern and the Communist Parties of South Africa, Canada, and Australia on Questions of Imperialism, Nationality and Race AUTHOR: Oleksa Drachewych, B.A., M.A. (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Professor T. McDonald NUMBER OF PAGES: x, 307. ii Lay Abstract In 1919, the Bolshevik Party of Russia created the Communist International, an organization to lead communist parties throughout the world. Through this body, the Bolsheviks and international communists promoted colonial liberation, racial equality, and self-determination of nations. This dissertation uses the examples of the Communist Parties of South Africa, Canada, and Australia to show that each party dealt with these issues differently, saw different levels of intervention from the Communist International, and the severity of this intervention is directly tied to the priorities of the Soviet Union and the Communist International. Also included in this study is a comparative analysis of the tactics of all three parties, including the efforts of individual communists in each nation in developing platforms unique to the local conditions they were facing. iii Abstract In 1919, the Bolshevik Party of Russia formed the Communist International (Comintern) to lead the international communist movement. As part of its efforts, it maintained a strong commitment to supporting colonial liberation, self-determination of nations, and racial equality. Many scholars of the Comintern and the Soviet Union assume that Moscow demanded firm discipline of all member parties and these parties largely followed its lead. But the Comintern was not as monolithic as is often presumed. Colonial affairs frequently were overlooked and European Communist Parties often skirted their commitment to supporting their colonial counterparts. Individual communists took it upon themselves to promote anti-imperialism or racial equality, but their efforts were frequently hampered by the tactical shifts of the Comintern and eventually, the erosion of Moscow’s interest. Frequently, the prioritization of certain issues in the Comintern proved to be the most important factor in determining Comintern interference in member parties. This dissertation includes the first comparative analysis of the Communist Parties of South Africa, Canada and Australia on issues of anti-imperialism, nationality, and race. In comparing these parties, this study explores the limits of Moscow’s control of other Communist Parties, while detailing the similarities and differences in the efforts of these three parties to combat imperialism, support colonial liberation, and fight for national rights and racial equality. This dissertation is the first to detail the Canadian and Australian communism’s efforts, sometimes on their own initiative, on anti-imperialism, nationality and racial equality during the interwar period, to provide new conclusions about Comintern intervention in South Africa, and to highlight the prioritization of the iv Comintern as each party sees Moscow’s intervention on these issues to very different degrees. v Acknowledgements I am grateful for the opportunity to have some space to thank the many individuals and institutions which helped make this dissertation a reality. I would like to thank the Department of History at McMaster University. It is here where I found a group of scholars who enabled me to have many sounding boards which helped shape and challenge my approach to this project. Tracy McDonald, my supervisor, has been a fantastic advisor and mentor as I tackled this project and her advice and feedback made this dissertation far better as a result. She frequently challenged me to keep asking questions and encouraged me to follow my own ambitions on this project, allowing me to ensure that it became a project of which I could be proud. I am thankful that I had John Weaver on my committee as without him, there is a good chance that much of the prose in this dissertation would have been unintelligible. I apologize for any grey hairs he has accumulated as a result of reading early drafts. Bonny Ibhawoh always found ways to ask deeper questions to take my chapters to the next level and keep me thinking throughout this process, especially on matters that frequently were overlooked in the history of communism. All three proved to me how pivotal and important having a good committee is in ushering a student through their doctoral program and I will forever be thankful to all three. I would also like to thank Professors Ian McKay, Ruth Frager, Stephen Streeter, Juanita DeBarros, and Stephen Heathorn, along with all those who attended my departmental talk, for their time, encouragement, book suggestions, and advice. I need to thank my fellow graduate students, especially Andrew Kloiber, Chelsea Barranger, Shay vi Sweeney, Scott Johnston, and Jaqui Kirkham, for sitting through dinners and social events where inevitably we would talk about our projects and they would offer advice, suggestions, and support. It would also be remiss if I neglected to thank them for being great friends with whom I hope to stay in touch no matter where our studies and dreams take us. I had the honour and privilege of presenting parts of this dissertation at multiple conferences. An early version of my first two chapters was presented in front of Pogrankom, an annual meeting of Russianists in Southern Ontario, where I received invaluable feedback and encouragement. Other content was presented at the Canadian Association of Slavists Annual Convention and the Association of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies Convention. I thank all those who asked a question or posed something further for me to consider. Furthermore, discussions I have had with Lars Lih, Alastair Kocho-Williams, R. Carter Elwood, Ian Thatcher, Michel Beaulieu, and Stuart Macintyre helped me refine some of the ideas presented in the following pages and my meetings with them helped me appreciate the value of my work, but also affirmed that I was on the right path. I would like to thank the McMaster University Department of History who generously provided financial support which enabled me to undertake my doctoral studies and covered my many research and conference trips. This dissertation was funded in part by an Ontario Graduate Fellowship and the L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History. I would like to thank the staff at Library and Archives Canada who made my visit in June 2015 as smooth and enjoyable as possible. Carol Leadenham and the staff at the vii Hoover Institute and the Hoover Library at Stanford University aided me in making sure I was able to see any and all relevant sources in their holdings. The archival staff at the State Library of New South Wales was indispensable in assisting me plan my trip to the archives and making available to me a collection much larger than I initially had imagined I would see. I regret that I was unable to get the name of one particular archivist who would check in frequently, asking me how my research was going each day. His shared excitement in my findings made the whole process that much better. The staffs of the Noel Butlin Archives Centre at the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne Archives ensured that my visits were pleasant, efficient, and worthwhile. I want to thank my father who instilled a strong passion for history in me at a young age and has been supportive of whatever I have wanted to do my entire life. He read many of these chapters in their earliest forms and his feedback helped me clarify much of my analysis. My mother, who unfortunately passed away before the completion of my dissertation, was always there if I needed someone to talk to or a hug to remind me I could get through all of those tough moments one faces while engaging in a doctoral program. Our cats, Luka and Sasha, were very good at telling me which books or sources I should either ignore or prioritize, depending on whether they knocked them off my desk in the middle of the night or not. Finally, I must acknowledge my partner, Andrea, who has been by my side throughout this process and my entire academic career. We have both survived doctoral studies and the support of having someone who understood and sympathized with all of the trials and tribulations related to this journey meant everything to me. viii Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter One: Optimistic Beginnings and Early Portents: The Comintern 35 under Lenin and the National, Colonial and Racial Questions Chapter Two: Anti-Imperialism and Racial Equality vs. Eurocentrism: The 74 National, Colonial & Racial Questions and the Comintern 1922-1943 Chapter Three: Moscow’s Meddling Most Obvious: The Communist Party of 123 South Africa and the Native Republic Thesis Chapter Four: One Wrong Turn: Canadian Communism and the National, 170 Colonial and the Racial Question, 1921-1945 Chapter Five: The Comintern’s Willing Partner: The Communist Party of 220 Australia and White Australia, Anti-Imperialism, and Aboriginal and Melanesian Workers Conclusion 268 Bibliography 291 ix Declaration of Academic Achievement Oleksa Drachewych is the sole author of this dissertation. x Ph.D. Thesis – O. Drachewych; McMaster University - History Introduction On 5 December 2013, Nelson Mandela passed away, succumbing to a respiratory infection. Mandela had been a member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) earlier in his life and many of his political ideas were informed by Marxist ideology.1 Communism backed the African National Congress (ANC), assisting in its struggle against apartheid.